Separator-disk rack.



U. H. SHAW.

SEPARATOR DISK RACK.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.21,1909.

996,15 Patented June 27, 1911.

"TTE TATE PATENT OFFTQEO CHARLES H. SHAW, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO STANDARD SEPARATOR COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SEPARATOR-DISK RACK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 27, 1911.

Application filed January 21, 1909. Serial No. 473,420.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES H. SHAW, residing in Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Separator-Disk Racks, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification.

This invention has for its object to provide a simple and convenient means for reeping in their proper order the several disks of a centrifugal separator bowl when they are removed therefrom for cleaning, which will permit of their being freely handled individually and will then serve as a guide when fitted to the tubular shaft of the separator bowl so that they will naturally fall into their proper positions in the correct order.

The exceedingly high speed at which the separating bowl of a cream separator is turned makes it necessary that it should be exactly balanced in order to accomplish smooth running and prevent vibrations. In practice this balancing of the separator bowl is so accurately done that the assembling of the disks must always be the same to preserve the balance and consequently the disks are keyed to the tubular shaft on which they are placed so as to assure their same position each time and they are numbered consecutively so that they may always be assembled in the same order. As the disks have to be frequently removed for cleaning, considerable care is required in replacing them to have them in their proper order and to fit them separately upon the key of the tubular spindle.

The present invention is designed to permit the disks being impaled on a rod or keeper while they are still in position on the tubular shaft and then removed from the tubular shaft while thus threaded on the keeper and locked there so that there is no danger of their accidental removal while they are being washed or otherwise handled separately, it being then only necessary to unlock the keeper and fit it in a seat provided therefor'in the tubular shaft when it forms a guide for the disks to position their key seats for receiving the key of the tubular shaft and thus permit them to be quickly and easily replaced on the tubular shaft in their proper order.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in the separator disk rack herein claimed, and all equivalents thereof. Referring to the accompanying drawings in which like characters of reference indicate the same parts in the different views; Figure 1 is an elevation with parts broken away of a disk rack constructed in accordance with this invention with its keeper passing through the registering openings in the disks and fitting in its seat in the tubular shaft ready to have the disks removed thereon; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the disks on the tubular shaft with the keeper of the rack in place therein and shown in sect-ion; and Fig. 3 is a detail view of the rack with the disks locked thereon ready for cleaning.

In these drawings 10 indicates the tubular shaft which is provided with radial wings 11 and a conical base 12 of a construction covered by my Letters Patent No. 959,030, dated May 24, 1910, for hollow shaft for centrifugal separators, but the present invention is not limited in its application thereto.

The consecutively numbered disks 13 of a conical shape are provided with central openings with radial slots 14 fitting on the wings 11 of the tubular shaft and other radial notches 15 intermediate thereof to form cream passages extending through the column of disks. One of the wings 11 is provided with a key flange 16 to fit in a corresponding key-way in one of the notches 14C of each disk to assure the disks being placed on the tubular shaft in the same position each time. The numerals on the disks determine the order of their assembling.

Each -of the disks 13 has an independent opening 17, and these openings are in the same relative position on all of the disks so that they register and form a vertical passageway to receive a rod or keeper 18 which on being lowered through the openings in the disks passes through an opening 19 in the cylindrical base 12 of the tubular shaft which is in register with the openings 17. The keeper rod 18 has pivotally connected to it a frame 20, preferably of a U-shape and provided with a handle 21 and terminating in a hook 22, the latter to be engaged with the end of the rod 18 after the disks have been moved' off of the tubular shaft 10 while still impaled on said rod. When the rod is thus locked the frame and rod form a rack, as shown in Fig. 3 to hold the disks loosely and permit of their being freely handled individually for cleaning purposes.

When it is desired to replace the disks on the tubular shaft it is only necessary to group them together at the hinge end of the rod 18 and then enter the other end of said rod through the opening 19 of the conical base 12, when the disks may be lowered on the tubular shaft and their key-ways will all be in proper position to receive the key 16 so that they readily find their place without the exercise of care on the part of the operator. Since their order has not been changed the disks are returned to their original positions and when the parts are clamped together in the usual way the accurate balance of the separator bowl is restored.

Aside from the fact that the proper balancing of the separator bowl depends upon the replacement of the disks in the same order that they were in when the bowl was balanced, this orderly replacement of the disks is further made necessary by reason of the fact that they are usually in two sets slightly different from each other in formation to produce the necessary spacing apart by their alternate arrangement, so that in event of their original order being departed from their proper spacing could not be assured,

What I claim as my invention is:

In an assembling device for the disks of a centrifugal separator having a tubular shaft with an opening in its base and disks keyed on the shaft and provided with openings to register with the opening of the base, a disk rack comprising a U-shaped frame having a keeper rod pivotally mounted on one end and adapted to be passed through the registering openings of the disk and the opening in the base of the tubular shaft and having a hook on'thc other end to engage the free end of the keeper rod for prevent-ing the removal of the disks from the keeper rod when the disks are removed from the tubular shaft while on the keeper rod and after said keeper rod has been removed from the opening in the base of the tubular shaft, said keeper rod serving as a guide for replacing the disks on the tubular shaft when it is entered in the opening of the base of the tubular shaft.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES H. SHAWV. Witnesses:

R. S. C. CALDWELL, ANNA F. SOHMIDTBAUER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

